Hydrodynamic Cavitation for Food and Water Processing

Hydrodynamic cavitation, which was and is still looked upon as an unavoidable nuisance in the flow systems, can be a serious contender as an alternative to acoustic cavitation for intensification of different physical and chemical processing applications. Hydrodynamic cavitation results in the generation of hot spots, highly reactive free radicals and turbulence associated with liquid circulation currents, which can result in the intensification of various physical/chemical operations. The present work highlights the different aspects of hydrodynamic cavitation including the basic mechanism, bubble dynamics analysis with recommendations for optimum operating parameters, reactor designs and an overview of applications in different areas of food and water processing. The major applications discussed in the work include food sterilization, microbial cell disruption for the release or extraction of enzymes, water disinfection and wastewater treatment. It appears that hydrodynamic cavitation results in conditions similar to those generated using acoustic cavitation but at comparatively much larger scale of operation and with better energy efficiencies.